He said the entry of the car was to test the market for compact cars after several models, like Waja and Persona, had been in the Indonesian market over the past year.

“In an effort the recover the market for Proton cars in Indonesia, the national car company launches Proton Iriz first before other models like Saga and Persona,” he told Bernama after the launch of the model here today.

Proton Iriz is a 1.3 cc compact vehicle with a comfortable interior.

He said Proton, now in turnaround stage, launched four models last year.

“The Perdana was launched in June, Pesona in August, Saga in September and Ertiga in November,” he said.

Ahmad Fuad said the company has operated in Indonesia for a long time but because there were no suitable models it has to start with the Proton Iriz.

“The launch of this new model is part of the marketing strategy to boost demand for Proton cars after the slack in 2015 and early 2016.

“The strategy now is to appoint new agents to sell Proton cars and to offer good services,” he said.

He said the world economic condition has improved and this gave Proton the confidence to recover the domestic and overseas market shares. – Bernama